$15 an Hour Is $31,200 a Year
Gross pay · Standard 2,080-hour year · Math checked against documented formulas · Updated October 2026
| Per year | 31,200 |
|---|---|
| Per month | $2,600.00 |
| Per biweekly paycheck | $1,200.00 |
| Per week | $600.00 |
| Per day (8 hrs) | $120.00 |
Enter the amount per hourly period
Pay frequency
52 = paid PTO included
Every equivalent of $15 hourly
$15.00/hr
40 h/week · 52 paid weeks = 2,080 hours a year
- Weekly
- $600.00/wk
- Biweekly
- $1,200.00/2wk
- Semi-monthly
- $1,300.00/half-mo
- Monthly
- $2,600.00/mo
- Annual
- $31,200.00/yr
Gross figures only — before taxes, benefits and deductions. Salaried and hourly earnings are taxed identically at the same total income; what differs is overtime eligibility and typically the benefits package.
About this calculation
$15.00 an hour works out to 31,200 a year before tax — $600.00 a week and $2,600.00 a month, assuming 40 hours a week for all 52 weeks.
Fifteen dollars an hour is a number with history — it was the rallying cry of the Fight for $15, and it's now the legal floor in a chunk of states while remaining unreachable in others.
The conversion multiplies your rate by 2,080 hours — 40 hours a week, 52 weeks a year. It's deliberately the standard case, because that's the number job offers and salary guides quote. Real life adds wrinkles in both directions: overtime past 40 hours pays 1.5× under federal law (worth real money at any rate), while unpaid sick days or seasonal layoffs cut the annual total. The calculator above lets you set your actual hours and paid weeks so the table matches your paycheck instead of the textbook.
So is it good money?
It depends almost entirely on full-time hours and local rent. At 40 hours a week it clears the federal minimum comfortably; in most metros it still doesn't clear a solo one-bedroom.
Frequently asked questions
Is $15 an hour a good wage?
It depends almost entirely on full-time hours and local rent. At 40 hours a week it clears the federal minimum comfortably; in most metros it still doesn't clear a solo one-bedroom.
How did you get $31,200 a year from $15 an hour?
Multiply the hourly rate by 2,080 — the standard full-time year (40 hours × 52 weeks). $15 × 2,080 = $31,200 before tax. Working 37-hour weeks instead of 40 drops that by about $2,340 a year, which is why the hours inputs in the calculator above matter as much as the rate.
What about overtime — how much more is time-and-a-half?
Federal law (FLSA) requires overtime at 1.5× your regular rate past 40 hours in a work week for most non-exempt jobs. At $15 an hour, each overtime hour pays $22.50 — so a 45-hour week pays $712.50 instead of $675.00, an extra $37.50 for the same five hours. Salaried-exempt workers get nothing extra, which is one more reason the hourly math is worth knowing.
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